"Concerns about overpopulated prisons and high rates of recidivism have focused new attention on barriers that keep former inmates from re-entering society," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports.

"Nearly three out of four colleges ask applicants a variation of a question about whether they have ever been convicted of a crime.

'If we are sincere about criminal-justice reform, economic independence, creating pathways out of poverty, and reducing our reliance on incarceration, then the college doors should be open to all,' says Ronald Day, an ex-felon who succeeded in gaining admission to SUNY’s Empire State College."